


Rooftops Are Places of Meetings

by Anzieizna



Series: Short stories [5]
Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-09 07:43:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18912559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anzieizna/pseuds/Anzieizna
Summary: A roof turns out to be a surprisingly good place to make friends.





	Rooftops Are Places of Meetings

Eden pushed the door to the room, watching as it slowly revealed a bare, plain space.

She glanced at her mother behind her, an expectant expression on her face. The woman snorted weakly. “It’ll be better, Eden. When we finally move in and finish setting all the things in, your room will look as good as it did back at the old house.”

Eden seriously doubted that. The old house had a full and perfectly functioning family, not a mother and daughter grieving for the only man in the house. Sorry, in the old house.

She took a few steps into the room, glancing around, unimpressed, but trying to keep it up in front of her mother.

Eden nodded, turning around in one spot as she took in every crevice of the room. It wasn’t that the room was bad, per say, just void of anything exciting. Even the walls were a bare white, something that only hurt her eyes if she stared at it too long.

“Why don’t you get to know your new room a bit,” her mother suggested, her tone soft and deliberate. Eden recognised the tone many times when her mother would tell her ghost stories of any kind. But that was back then, when there was a pinch of happiness and amusement. Now it was just fear. As though she was worried Eden would just sprint down the stairs right now, and run away.

Eden nodded again, more from not having anything to do. Her mother sent her a half-hearted smile before disappearing, the door shutting firmly behind her and silence filling the air.

The little girl stood awkwardly, swinging her arms at her sides as she eyed the walls. She stepped forward, going towards the only window in the room. It was a big, clean one, just above the frame of a bed. It was a bay window, sitting forward and she stared down to the ground, watching as people passed the streets and as cars zoomed past.

The townhouse wasn’t too bad. Eden knew it could have been worse, but she still missed her old home.

She let out a long, strained sigh and rested her forehead against the glass. Her breath fogged it up and she stared for a second at the mist on the glass, watching it trace its patterns until suddenly a flash of colour underneath caught her eye.

She stayed still as a figure climbed out of the house just next to her’s, settling on the front door overhang. They fell down quietly, curved over their own knees and their back was rising and falling quickly.

Eden frowned, curiosity getting the best of her as she pushed the window open. The noise caught the person’s attention and their head turned sharply. It was a boy, Eden realised, and they had short, brown hair. Curls had clearly been pushed behind the ears, or tried to, and the wavy darkness travelled around his head smoothly. His cheeks looked damp and his eyes were red-rimmed.

“Are you okay?” She asked quietly, praying to God that whoever this was wasn’t one of those rude, mean people. Eden wasn’t exactly a ‘social’ child, so voluntarily talking to stranger like this was making her heart pound and her ears ring.

The boy stared at her for a few moments before standing, and for a moment Eden panicked, thinking he was about to go inside, when he just crooked his fingers at her.

She paused, staring down at the roof under her arms.

It looked like a long way down, and the slate pieces didn’t look the sturdiest. The longer she stared, the more she could image her decent as she slipped and fell down, crashing on the ground with a loud bang! and a high pitched scream. She unconsciously shivered.

Eden turned back to him again, mouthing the words ‘no way’ and shaking her head. The boy gave her an unimpressed look and flapped his arms again. The girl arched her eyebrows at him, ready to slam down the window if needed, but the sight of him wiping away a tear when she thought he wasn’t looking made her snap.

With a deep breath, she pushed herself forward. Her legs seemed to fly in mid-air for a second and she panicked, before the feeling of solid ground touched the bottom of her shoes and she let out a quiet gasp.

She let the rest of her body climb down, already feeling like her soul had left her body, when the boy motioned up, towards the rooms above all the town houses.

Eden gasped, her mouth falling agape and staring at the boy with wide eyes. He, however, either didn’t care or was oblivious, continuing to climb up along some pipes until he was at the very top. He looked down, offering a hand to Eden. She hesitated for a second, but then decided that declining and going back inside at this point would just be plain embarrassing, and grabbed his hand with force.

The two more-or-less threw themselves onto the roof, sitting opposite each other in stiff silence until Eden finally gave an awkward wave.

“Hey.”

He stared at her, remaining silent.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Domix.”

She rose her eyebrows. “What?”

“My name is Dominic.” He explained, letting out a hand for her. She giggled quietly at the formal gesture, returning it with a straightened back and posh accent.

“Eden, at your service, sir Dominic.”

He grinned, playfulness bright in his eyes. “Call me Dom,” he told her. “Or Domix. Though, that’s mostly what the people at my school call me.”

Eden cocked her head. “What school do you go to?”

“Archivehill Secondary. You?” He asked.

Eden frowned a bit, disappointed. “I’m not going there. I’m going to another one, the one downtown,” she told him. He nodded in understanding, but she could see his disappointment in his eyes. They were probably the most expressive thing about him. Shining when he was happy, dimming when he was sad. “What year are you in?”

“Year nine. I’ll be choosing my subjects soon. And you’re in… seven?”

She blinked, surprised. “How did you know?”

Dom grinned, his cheeks suddenly puffed and his bright teeth showing. “You’re tiny.”

She gasped, giving an indignant squawk. “No, I’m not!”

Her rage only sent him into deeper laughter and before she knew it he was lying across the slate tiles, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he struggled to breathe. She had crossed her arms, the largest smirk ever on her face as she continued to glare at him.

“I’m not small.” Eden said with so much hostility she was convinced she could command the fates into making her taller. Then it’d show Dom not to laugh at her!

The boy eventually recovered, trying to sit as still as he could as occasional giggles still slipped into his words. “No, of course not. I’m sorry for saying that. I just meant that… you looked quite young,” he offered, a nice, real smile on his face, this time.

She returned it, but it quickly turned sour once more as she said, “You better be. I’m really not that small. I’m almost as tall as my mum!”

Dom tried to keep his laughter in, succeeding mostly. He had to bite his lip and let out a few huffs of air before he could speak again without bursting into loud chortling. “I really didn’t mean to offend you. I just guessed because I can still remember year seven, so I know what it’ll be like for you. Especially if you’re moving to a new town entirely.”

Eden smiled, pleased and comforted for once. She opened her mouth, ready to express her gratitude, when suddenly a voice from under them yelled ‘Dominic! Come down here, now!’. The boy quickly straightened, a worried expression coming on his face.

“That’s my dad,” he explained, his tone wavering as he began to get up. “I should probably go now.”

He made as if to jump down now, but Eden grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back, her voice loud and clear, and slightly stressed. “No! Not yet. I can’t get down on my own. You have to help me!”

He gave a roll of his eyes but seemed to accept his fate as eh jumped down, holding his arms out, holding her waist as the girl climbed down. “You set?” He asked. She nodded, blushing a bit from needing help, and the realisation that she just climbed down from sitting with a boy two years older than her on the roof.

He gestured towards her bedroom and she climbed up, barely needing his help this time but taking comfort in his presence.

“Thanks,” Eden said when she finally got up on her bay window.

“No problem.” Dom turned around, hopping to his roof, and was about to climb into his own window when he paused. He straightened up, soft smile on his face as he looked at the girl. “I’ll see you later, Eden?”

She smiled brightly. He phrased it as a question, the intent clear behind the words. The idea of having a friend who understood her, who could help her, who she felt so familiar with despite only knowing him for about ten minutes widened her smile.

“Bye, Dom.”

**o~o~0~O~0~o~o**

Eden threw the door open, the material banging against the wall of her room as she stormed in, throwing her backpack onto the floor with no care. The girl dived onto her bed, falling head first and breathing in the washed scent in an attempt to calm herself.

Another day of school, another day of people teasing and whispering about her.

Eden was getting tired of people making fun of her just because she decided to study instead of hanging out with her friends. That was mainly because she didn’t have any friends, really. Eden much rather preferred sitting in the library, reading ahead for a History project or doing extra credit for French than being noisy in the refractory with a bunch of people she didn’t even like.

By this point she was used to it – people only coming to talk to her to ask her if they could copy off some homework or what the answers for a test were. She didn’t really mind. Popular kids would come up to her, certain that she could fix all their problems, and sometimes she got the vibe that she was really their friend, just exchanging banter and jokes.

But then they went away, leaving her alone with her books once more, and reality slapped her in the face with a new sense of loneliness.

On top of that her mind had been clouded with confusion. She couldn’t really pick out what was different all of a sudden, but she knew something was. It made her tired, thinking over and over about every choice she had to make. This new… interest did nothing but add boiling water to the pot.

Eden took in a deep breath, doing her best to vent out her frustration as she had been told before. The memory of the words brought a sudden decision upon her and without hesitation she climbed onto the bay window – now lined with fluffy pillows and a thin blanket and used rather frequently – and pulled the glass up, proceeding to drop onto the overhang. The girl carefully jumped to the roof right beside her own, knocking on the window with slight more force than necessary.

She stood there for a few moments before the blinds were suddenly pulled up, a freckled face staring at her with slight annoyance. She pointed up, towards the roof, and the boy’s face instantly brightened and he jumped away, shifting back into his room to dig through his possessions. Eden took her time climbing up to the roof, her footsteps now steady and practised. Three years ago, she still needed Dom’s help stretching up, and he would lift her whilst she protested.

Now, Eden fell onto the slate, her back flat against the grey stones as her eyes stared up at the sunny sky, not matching her mood at all. If she could have it her way, the sky would be splitting apart with lightening by now, thunderclouds rolling in from every corner of the Earth.

But the weather didn’t seem to be listening to her, continuing to be bright, only a few, wispy clouds breaking the seemingly never-ending shade of blue.

The sound of distant shuffling arose but she didn’t bother to take her eyes off the sky, knowing it was Dom simply getting out of his window and onto the overhang. Sure enough, she felt a thud on her side after a few moments, and the corner of her eyes spotted the tall boy sitting there, legs crossed, a small stick in his hand.

She frowned as she turned back to her view. Eden didn’t like the fact her friend smoked, or even occasionally did drugs, but who was she to complain? He was the only one who ever listened to her, let her talk about her problems and actually offer feedback. He was less of a parent or therapist, but a big brother. Whenever Eden had a rough day she called him out onto the roof and they’d either sit there in silence, only occasionally talking, or she’d rant out her anger and Dom would blow some steam off in reply. They had a good system – visiting the other when their life got just a bit too rough, either climbing into their room or calling their friend up to roof. It was mostly Eden who did so, but she suspected it might’ve been because Dom thought he needed to be more grown-up and mature. Whenever he called her up it was rarely ever because he was angry, but rather just because he was bored. It didn’t matter to Eden. She liked his company.

“When did you come home?” Dom asked.

“Just a few minutes ago,” she replied, her tone dead bored as she stared up. She was far too tired to give him an insight into his day, and perhaps he realised this, because he didn’t pry.

Dom said, “We had a training day today. Spent most of it at home, being bored with myself. I actually tried knocking on your window,” Eden glanced at him at that. He had a distant look in his eyes, clearly avoiding her gaze as she continued talking. “But you weren’t here, obviously.”

Eden frowned at the casualness of the words. She knew Dom occasionally got lonely, and if anybody knew loneliness it was her. The teenager went through a rough patch in his life, a time where he was really quiet and barely talked to her. Then Eden found the lines on his arms and learned what a rocky relationship he had with his did – who took up drinking on the daily since his wife divorced him and also stayed out late at night, expecting Dom to have done everything around the house by the time he came home.

Eden had yelled and chided him, not understanding how he could do this to him, until she managed to remind him of what he meant to her and he stopped. At least, she assumed.

His voice was in that tone again – the one that sent chills down her body. Eden sat up, crystal eyes narrowed in empathy as she moved closer to him. “I’m sorry,” she said, leaning her head down against his shoulder. “You know I would have stayed in if I’d known.”

Dom nodded. He lifted his head away as he breathed out the smoke, knowing Eden’s distaste for the drug. “I know, garden.”

Eden grinned at her nickname, settling closer to Dom as she slowed down her breathing. It wasn’t too long before her brain started to get clouded again, and the illusion of peace was gone.

“Dom,” she almost groaned, her voice dejected and low. The boy hummed in acknowledgement, pulling out a drag and aiming it away from her again. The simple gesture made her smile and she buried her cheek further into his neck, wondering why in the hell it was so cold out when the sun was so damn bright! “I…” The words struggled to form and she had a hard time moving her mouth. She was far too nervous, which was stupid because this was Dom. Dom, the person who always stood by her side whenever she had problems and basically the only reason she had anything interesting happening in her life. “…I think I’m gay,” she finally said.

Silence.

Dom seemed to pause for a second, before going back to smoking.

She frowned for a moment, thinking back over her words. “No,” she cleared her throat, “I am gay. I know it.” Eden looked up at Dom but the boy still didn’t look at her. They sat in silence for a few beats before Eden burst out, “Don’t you have anything to say?”

For such a popular, usually chatty teen, Dom was being rather quiet. It was disturbing.

He finally glanced down at her, and his eyes seemed to be cautious of something. She prayed he wasn’t one of those homophobic assholes. Dom was her brother, practically, and she felt like she needed his support the most.

“Look,” he began tentatively and Eden began panicking. “not to offend you or anything, but,” – Oh, no. Dammit!. He’s gonna disapprove of me, he’s gonna be one of those homophobes, he’ll abandon me and laugh at me, like the rest of the people at my school do! I should have known this day would come – he’s a popular, druggish year twelve who doesn’t hang out with nerds who are so dependant! Oh, Eden, you’re so stupid – “I kind of already knew.”

Eden blinked.

Then blinked again.

Then she slapped him against his shoulder.

“Ow!” He cried, dropping his cigarette as he put his hand to his shoulder. “What the bloody hell was that?!” Dom demanded.

“You could have talked to me about it!” Eden yelled. Her voice was caught between angry and pained, a tad bit of offended mixed in the pile as she frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. “Made my suffering less if I knew I had someone to talk to.”

Dom’s face instantly softened. Before she knew she was wrapped in his arms, her face buried in the crook of his neck, staring at his dark shirt with wide eyes. She didn’t hesitate before wrapping her arms around him, the pungent and acrid scent of smoke wisping around his body.

“Thank you, garden, for telling me.” He said, his tone soft and considerate. “I’m glad you trust me enough for that.”

Eden snorted into him dryly. “You’re basically the only person I’ve got to trust. My mum’s unstable and dealing with her own issues, the kids at school only use me for good grades, and I’m an only child.”

Eden could tell Dom was frowning above her, by the way his body tensed slightly. She leaned back, eyes narrowed and eyebrows curved. He was looking at her… weird, she thought. Like it was the first time he was seeing her. The more she stared, the more it freaked her out, so she tried to deflect her rising panic with a question.

“You okay there, Dom?”

He seemed to hesitate for a second, but then his face changed. His strong, though façade broke down and a vulnerable expression was left in its wake. She suddenly noticed the circles in his eyes and how he seemed to be struggling to keep the corners of his mouth up, yet the smile was genuine. Purposeful. Deliberate.

“You know you mean a lot to me, right?” He asked. Eden blinked. “You’re like… you’re like my little sister, Eden. You’re always there for me when I need you most and just hearing your voice makes me happier. Even if only a bit,” he added quietly. “Whenever me and my dad fight, I always know I can go to you and you’ll never complain. I don’t know anybody else who would do that. I don’t know anybody else who lets me smoke, even if they don’t like it. I don’t know anybody else who doesn’t expect anything back from me, or want anything more than company and comfort.”

Eden stared, shocked. Then she jumped into his arms and drew him closer than either of them even thought was possible. He wasn’t complaining, though. In fact, he was enjoying the hug, trying to seep out all his gratitude and love into the gesture.

“Since we’re confessing things,” Dom’s voice suddenly spoke up. Eden shifting back a tad, looking up at him with a cocked head and twisted features. He didn’t seem to notice her confusion, or just didn’t care. Eden wasn’t sure which one it was. “and since we just had our first ‘moment’,” he said mockingly, fingers coming up to do air quotes as Eden batted them away aggressively. “I thought I might as well tell you…”

Dom took a breath and Eden stayed silent, staring at him expectantly but not wanting to push him. He must have seen something in his eyes because he smiled, waveringly, and then opened his mouth. “I’ve come to realise that I’m asexual.”

He stared at her, and Eden stared back, before she smiled and gave a little laugh. “I’m glad you’ve told me,” she said. Dom instantly smiled and his body relaxed once more. Eden hadn’t even realised he was so tense in the first place, and she swallowed in guilt for a second. Then she shook her head and looked up at her friend again. “And it doesn’t change who you are. You’re still my best friend. You’re still my brother…”

Dom’s face was gentle, a new softness to it as he leant down, kissed her forehead, then pulled into one more, long hug.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, trapped in each other’s embraces as they ignored the world around them.

Eden took another breath, smiling into the shoulder of her best friend, and now brother. She should have never doubted he’d stay loyal.


End file.
